So we had just chosen Air Dried Dog Treats (over Scented Candles) as the product we wanted to sell online and though our entire business would've smelt much nicer had we gone with the scented candles, Fergus would've been less involved and become a safety risk rather than our esteemed CEO.
Now it was a time to differentiate ourselves from the pack. There were two main problems that we wanted to solve that other dog treat brands weren’t doing well.
First, quality.
There were a LOT of dog treat brands and online shops selling dog treats, but quality on about three quarters of them was a big question mark.
Many were using artificial meat flavourings, lots of flour, starch, tapioca in their ingredients (which are all unnecessary carbs)
And some stores that were selling natural meat treats sourced the meat from Brazil, Thailand or China.
I bet you already know why imported meats are not totally safe for dogs, if you don’t, read here why.
Second, price.
Fergus was 42kg and we would only be able to buy small packs of liver treats at the pet store and the bag would be half gone by the time we reached home!
We wanted affordability, especially in times like these! But of course without sacrificing quality which led us to our best “innovation” yet…
Bulk buying!
By offering our treats in 500g or 1KG bags, it allowed people to buy at a lower unit price and also save on shipping too because you would not need to purchase as often throughout the year
The real question was whether people would prefer this buying style… how could we find out if Australian dog owners wanted to bulk buy their dog treats?
Well, we didn’t find the answers right away but in the spirit of entrepreneurship we started the business anyway.
And it all finally came down to this one very important Facebook post… more next week!